1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot cleaner, and particularly, to a detecting apparatus and method of a robot cleaner, capable of reducing a measurement deviation with respect to color and texture of a floor, improving a detection accuracy by obtaining an amount of light received at a receiving unit as much as being required, and allowing a smooth operation of the robot cleaner even when there are drop-offs and bumps on the floor.
2. Background of the Invention
In the related art, a robot cleaner indicates an automatic cleaner which performs cleaning by itself while moving around on a floor, according to an input program, by using a charged battery as a power source.
Unlike an existing cleaning manner that a user moves a cleaner to clean a floor or the like, such robot cleaner allows an automatic cleaning due to an operation of a remote controller or a simple manipulation of operation buttons, thus saving time and trouble of cleaning taken by such cleaning.
The related art robot cleaner uses an infrared sensor and an optical lens installed at a lower surface thereof so as to detect a distance from a floor. The infrared sensor is provided with a transmitting unit and a receiving unit.
When light from the transmitting unit is reflected on a floor, a light tail is generated. The tail causes a measurement deviation at the receiving unit. In particular, the light tail may become longer according to detected color and feel of the floor, which causes a great measurement deviation at the receiving unit. As a result, it may be difficult to accurately measure distance from the floor.
In addition, in case where a drop-off exists on the floor, it is required to detect a relatively short distance for detecting such drop-off. In contrast, in case where a bump exists on the floor, it is required to detect a relatively long distance for detecting such bump. Hence, the robot cleaner according to the related art, which uses the on/off type infrared sensor having a constantly fixed measurement distance, cannot detect different distances, so that it cannot detect both the drop-off and the bump existing on the floor. Accordingly, due to the drop-off or bump not detected, errors may occur during the travel of the robot cleaner.
Furthermore, there may occur a case where a required amount of light is not received by the receiving unit due to color and texture of the floor. For example, in case of a black floor, the receiving unit may be able to receive a small amount of light, thereby making a smooth measurement difficult.